


The Edict

by sensorium



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien salt, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Deserves Better, don't interact if you don't like salt, ml salt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 12:22:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21815782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sensorium/pseuds/sensorium
Summary: The Miraculous Ladybug cure can heal people from any wound inflicted by an akuma, even revive the dead, but if even one of the holders are not the true holders (Marinette is, Adrien isn’t) the weight of the damage done will be inflicted upon the holder of the ladybug miraculous.***on hold/hiatus
Relationships: Alya Césaire & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Tikki
Comments: 72
Kudos: 649





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> This work was inspired by [musicfeedsmysoul12](https://musicfeedsmysoul12.tumblr.com/) on tumblr, and I did originally post [this](https://miraculousbelladonna.tumblr.com/post/189695302805/the-edict) on tumblr like an hour ago to get a feel for how it'd be received and it's been doing pretty well so I figured, why not share it on here too?
> 
> Also I do not have a beta, all mistakes are my own! If I die, I die.

Marinette thinks nothing of it, discounts the bruises, soreness, and headaches after every fight as the obligatory battle wounds. She’s clumsy, and not as in shape as a superhero should be, maybe she should drink more water. Make an effort to get some more sleep. She doesn’t think about it.

Until Syren. People drowned. People died. People who were all brought back.

At a cost. 

That she paid. That she’s paying.

It starts with coughing. Something is stuck in her chest and it feels like if she coughs hard enough, she can get it out. She doesn’t.

It gets kind of hard to breathe.

It gets worse and becomes pneumonia. 

It gets worse. 

Her lungs are constantly filling with fluid faster than they can drain it.

She’s drowning. She’s always drowning.

They don’t know why.

They call it “dry drowning,” the body is stuck as the mind moves on, but as far as they know, Marinette wasn’t one of the ones killed in the attack. She is the only one still exhibiting symptoms of drowning, as far as they know, Ladybug had fixed everything, just like she always does. As far as they know.

The science doesn’t add up, it doesn’t make sense. They call in specialists, try to track Ladybug down to ask her what happened, to ask for clarification, for help, but she’s disappeared.

Ladybug is gone.

Marinette is laying in the hospital sick and dying for no discernible reason, no cause that anyone can find, and Tikki is _furious._

She knows the cause. She knows the Syren body count. She knows exactly how many people were brought back, and she knows why Marinette’s lungs are constantly filling. It won’t stop until she has drowned 1833 times. One for every person she brought back. 

She will not survive it. 

All because Chat Noir is not the true holder of the miraculous of destruction.

This has only ever happened to her once. She’s lost many chosen, of course, she is as old as life itself, but she has only ever lost one like this, because she went to great pains to ensure it would never happen again.

A grave mistake has been made. At the cost of her chosen. At the cost of the only true creation soul on the earth in this era. Tikki took her time crafting it. She poured in passion, ebullience, excitement, zest for life in its many forms, creativity, determination, loyalty, strength, a dash of luck, sat back to let it coalesce, and let it go. Just being near the girl makes them both more powerful, and Ladybug seems so invincible because she might as well be. She cannot he bested by a mere man or flimsy akuma.

Marinette may not be aware of how powerful she is, but she has time. She has more than enough time to grow and discover herself. 

Or rather, she should.

No. She _will._ Tikki will correct this grievous error.

Marinette will not die. Not like this.

*****

Tikki flew out of the hospital with a purpose. She was glowing faintly because of her anger, it was so overwhelming it was almost too much to contain. She hasn’t been this angry in a millennia, so she didn’t realize that her power was leaking out of her, she didn’t see the flowers blooming and trees flowering as she flew by. She didn’t see the three pregnant ladies sitting in a cafe across the street, nor did she see that each of their waters broke simultaneously. 

She needed to see Master Fu. She needed to correct this mistake by whatever means necessary.

She pauses outside of the door to collect herself. She takes a moment to leash her power, and when she sees that the glow around her has dimmed, she goes inside.

Wayzz is floating at attention in the middle of the room, waiting for her. He looks extremely nervous, and it’s bordering on fear. Good. She may be the embodiment of creation, but that in itself doesn’t make her good. She is benevolent, yes, and it’s much easier to be nice than needlessly cruel, but people so often forget how monsters came to be. They forget that she is _creation._ They forget that she created all of the bad things on Earth just like she created the good. Plagg may be the only living being in existence who truly understands what she’s capable of, although by the looks of him, it seems that Wayzz is remembering.

Remembering who she is. What she is. What she is capable of. 

“Tikki,” he starts nervously, bowing his head in respect. “I felt your power unleash all the way across the city. I felt ... your anger. What - what happened?”

“Wayzz,” she inclines her head in acknowledgement of his deference and he relaxes. She knows this isn’t his fault. Her anger is not for him. “I am here to speak with the Guardian.”

Wayzz’s eyes widen, and she knows that he took note of how she addressed Fu, and what it means. He knows that she is here in a professional capacity. She is not here for platitudes and niceties. It takes everything in him not to tremble as he bows his head again, says, “Of course. I will go retrieve him immediately,” and rushes out of the room. 

She sighs after Wayzz leaves. She didn’t mean to scare him, and she didn’t mean to get so angry, but mistakes were made and Marinette is suffering. Marinette is fighting for her life and for the lives of everyone who died during Syren, because if she dies so does everyone she brought back, and the least Tikki can do is rectify this error. Make sure it never happens again.

She feels herself beginning to glow again as she remembers the last time this happened. Her anger rises as she remembers that she thought she had already ensured this would never happen again. She doesn’t try to reign in her emotions or her power this time. Fu needs to remember exactly who and what he’s dealing with. It’s time for her to remind him. 

Fu looks surprised as he walks into the room. Every potted plant in the room has grown at least five inches taller than they were when he saw them last. He sees Tikki in the middle of the room, glowing with anger that he doesn’t seem to recognize.

If he were smarter, he’d be afraid.

“Tikki, what brings you here at this time of night? Morning? Wayzz, what time is it?”

Wayzz, floating behind him, is quiet and unobtrusive when he replies, “It is currently 6:15 in the morning, Master.”

“6 in the morning? Tikki, surely whatever it was could’ve waited until a more appropriate time.”

Her anger spikes and all the plants in the room grow another three inches. She is shaking with anger. It takes everything in her, will she hasn’t exerted in _millennia_, to hold her power back. To hold it in.

“My chosen is dying in the hospital right now, there is no more appropriate time. Do you even know why?”

Fu’s face crumples in shock and worry, and he opens his mouth to speak but she cuts him off with a sharp wave of her arm.

“No. Do not speak. For once, you are going to _listen._ Marinette, as I'm sure you know, is a _true_ creation soul. She is _the_ true creation soul. The only one. And she is currently dying in the hospital because _you_ have made a mistake. A grievous error. I want you to tell me what you think that error might be. I want you to think about why Marinette, a young healthy 15 year old girl, is currently in the hospital dying.” She narrows her eyes at him as he opens his mouth only to shut it again. She gestures for him to speak, and says, “Go ahead.”

“I don’t- I don’t know why she would be in the hospital. Was there an accident?”

Tikki shuts her eyes and breathes in deeply, letting it out in a big sigh. When she opens her eyes again they are tinged with red, glowing just like the rest of her is.

“No. Wrong answer.”

Wayzz moves out from behind Fu and goes to hide behind one of the plants that are steadily growing taller by the minute.

“You see, I could have forgiven this if it were only as a result of your lack of training. I could have given you some leeway. Maybe you misread Adrien’s soul, it happens. True destruction souls are marginally more common than true creation ones. Maybe you didn’t know what would happen when you gave him that ring, that’s understandable. That’s something we might have been able to move past. But, what I cannot, _will not_ forgive, is the fact that you let his behavior go unchecked. You enabled and coddled him and encouraged, no, _manipulated_ Marinette to do the same. It’s been going well enough so far, or I’m sure that’s what you’ve been telling yourself, but today, people died. People died and because Adrien is not a true soul of destruction, because the balance is uneven, Marinette is bearing the weight of the lives of every person she brought back with the cure. She is dying all of their deaths, and it will not stop until she has experienced all 1833 of them.”

Wayzz gasps audibly at the revelation, flying out from behind the plant and going to hover next to Tikki. “Master, please. You didn’t. You couldn’t have. Tell me you didn’t.”

Fu looks away guiltily, unable to answer, and Tikki’s composure snaps.

She’s seething. Her entire body is practically vibrating, and the glow around her gets brighter and brighter until it’s blinding them all. The plants continue to grow even faster, their leaves are all filling the room, clogging it, and it doesn’t stop. She can’t reign her anger back in. She doesn’t want to.

“You have thoughtlessly endangered the lives of not only my chosen, but everyone in Paris time and time again. Did you think you’d get away with it? That Marinette was too young, too naive to speak up? Too nice to complain about what Chat has been doing to her? Did you think that nothing like this would ever happen? That I’d never find out? If so, you are as ignorant as you are stupid, Wang Fu, but regardless, your time is up. You will pay for what you have done to Marinette, and for what you’ve allowed to happen to Paris.”

Fu looks chastened and guilty, but it’s not enough. It will never be enough. Marinette has already died 5 times between when she was admitted last night and now. She’s been brought back every time due to the tireless efforts of the hospital staff, but sometime soon it will not be enough.

“I, Tikki, Kwami of Creation, hereby revoke guardianship of Wang Fu. Every miraculous that you have distributed except for mine will be returned to the miracle box, including yours. You will never again hold or wield a miraculous. You will never be able to speak of this to anyone. You will spend the next month aging to however old you’d be without Wayzz’s interference. You will die alone with nothing to accompany you except for the weight of your own mistakes. Wayzz, will you be my witness?”

Wayzz swallows hard, eyes watering as he looks at Fu, who looks about a step away from getting on his knees and begging. He thinks of Marinette, of what it means to be a true creation soul, and how her soul is on the verge of being snuffed out because of a mistake his Master made, a mistake that has only ever been made once before, and nods. “I, Wayzz, Kwami of Protection, am witness to the revocation of Wang Fu’s guardianship. I concur with everything that Tikki, Kwami of Creation, has decided. The judgement will be enacted whenever she so chooses.”

Tikki speaks in a language as old as time, a tongue that is only known to the Kwami and the Guardian, **_“The judgement is passed.”_**

Fu hears the first sentence and drops to the ground in shock. Tikki isn’t done, but whatever she’s saying now, he can’t understand it. He looks up at her and opens his mouth, and finds that he can’t speak to her either. He can’t speak to either of the Kwami. His vision swims the longer he looks at them, and his head starts to throb. He has to turn away. The miraculous is a physical weight on his arm, dragging him down until his arm hits the floor and the bracelet snaps open.

A sort of shock goes through the room, emanating from the both of them out through the building, through the city, and the miracle box opens. Every drawer and shelf in the box opens in unison, and as the turtle miraculous flies into its spot, all of the Kwami fly out of their Miraculi to see what’s happening. They haven’t had a summoning like this in millennia. Something is very, _very,_ wrong.

The miraculous of destruction flies into the miracle box, and as soon as it lands Plagg immediately floats out of it. He’s frantic, growing even more so as he sees Tikki glowing with power. “Tikki, I didn’t know. I swear to you that I didn’t know. His soul was already corrupted when he got my miraculous, I didn’t know he wasn’t mine, you know true destruction souls aren’t as rare as creation ones, I couldn’t tell. I know that’s not good enough but sugar cube, I am sorry. I am so truly sorry.”

Tikki looks at him and nods, but doesn’t interrupt her speech. It takes him a moment to realize she’s speaking in the old tongue, and as he listens to what she’s saying, as he turns and sees the wreckage of the overgrown plants, as he sees all the Kwami floating around them, staring at the man who is on the floor crying with his eyes covered and face turned away from them, he realizes what’s happening, and feels his heart turn to stone in his chest. 

** _“Guardianship of the Miraculi will be transferred to Marinette Dupain-Cheng, my current chosen and the acting Ladybug, hero of Paris. Myself and my Kwami brethren will teach her our ways, and teach her how to be a proper Guardian. We will protect her as she has chosen to protect us and all the people of Paris. She will never again be overlooked. She will never again be belittled or made to feel insignificant. She will go down in history as the most powerful Ladybug and the best Guardian the world has ever seen. Who will be witness to this edict?”_ **

Wayzz finds it much easier to speak up this time, and is the first to agree. **_“I, Wayzz, Kwami of Protection, am witness to this edict.”_**

Plagg is glaring daggers at the pathetic scrap of a man still crying on the floor. **_“I, Plagg, Kwami of Destruction, am witness to this edict.”_**

Another shock goes through the room, the building, the _city,_ at his declaration. The Kwami all glow for a moment with the release of power, and then grow wary at what has had to happen for such power to be released. What happened that meant this power needed to be released? 

Either way, they trust Tikki, and they know her. She is Creation, she is life. She is their mother in the sense that she blinked them into existence. She has never steered them wrong. The fact that she is asking for witnesses, even now, instead of just exerting her will as the Goddess of Creation, as is her right, speaks volumes. They have never had a reason to doubt her, for she has never even thought of giving them one. 

Tikki is staring at all of them in turn, still glowing with power. The Kwami all inhale collectively, exhale in unison, close their eyes, inhale again to connect to each other, and when their eyes are open they are each glowing in accordance to their power. 

** ** _“We, the Kwami of the Miracle Box of Paris, are witness to this edict. We accept Marinette Dupain-Cheng as the new Guardian. We will protect her as she has chosen to protect us and the city of Paris. She will never again be overlooked. She will never again be belittled or made to feel insignificant. We concur.”_ ** **

Tikki takes a deep breath, and as she finishes the summoning, she releases her power in a third and final shockwave that has the lights in the entire city flickering. 

** ** _“It is done.”_ ** **

*** 

Miles away, attached to machines and tubes in a hospital bed, Marinette opens her eyes. 


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She thinks that if she were human, if she were anything less than what she is, (a god, the embodiment of creation, of _life_) it would have broken her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This baby is a whole 3315 words long! I hope that makes up for how long you've had to wait for it. I still don't know how long this whole work is going to end up being so ... stay tuned if you want!
> 
> It's already Christmas (12/25) here in Japan where I currently am so, Merry Christmas! Happy holidays!
> 
> Again, I don't have a beta, all mistakes are my own.

Miles away, locked in a secret compartment behind a painting, Nooroo and Duusu feel the release of power, and they feel the shift in guardianship. They hold each other, ecstatic, waiting for their miraculous to be reclaimed, to return to the miracle box with their brethren, but it doesn’t happen. They feel the end of the summoning, Tikki’s final release of power, and their miraculous don’t move.

They’re still there. They’re stuck.

It hits them. They realize the gravity of what’s been done to them.

They’ve been away for so long, and Tikki doesn’t know who has them. She can’t revoke a miraculous when she doesn’t know whom she’s revoking it from, when she doesn’t have a name, which is the one and only limit to her power over the miraculous.

There’s a loophole when guardianship is being revoked, in which she can recall all the miraculous the guardian has distributed, but the butterfly and peacock miraculous were lost years ago, even before the previous guardian acquired guardianship.

They all agreed to it back when the miraculous were formed, because it seemed innocent enough. They would never _not_ know who had a miraculous.

Not even Plagg could have imagined the depravity and selfishness of humans. The innate, almost compulsive, need not just to have, but to _take_. To _own_. 

They found out soon enough.

Which is why nobody, not the Guardian, not even the Order, knows about the limit to Tikki’s power. The mage who made the miraculi took it to her grave with her. The kwami themselves are never allowed to discuss it unless they are all safely within the miracle box, nor can they be compelled or ordered to divulge the information.

That is the only solace for Nooroo and Duusuu. The fact that their abusers will never know, they will never have even an inkling of an idea, and they cannot be forced to give the information up.

They didn’t realize that someone would abuse them so profoundly, so consistently, and that if they did, that not even the Kwami of Creation would know who was culpable.

Gabriel and Nathalie have perverted the miraculi in a truly heinous way. Terrorizing innocent people and using their emotions as cannon fodder.

Nooroo and Duusuu are exhausted. They are spent. They don’t have enough in them to be angry, not anymore.

But, it’s a new day. There’s a new guardian. For now, it’s enough. It has to be enough.

They cry themselves to sleep in each other’s arms.

*****

There’s something beeping, she doesn’t know where she is, and she’s got something stuck in her throat.

Her throat is working to get rid of the intrusion, and she’s coughing so hard her chest hurts, everything _hurts_, hands flailing as she tries to get her bearings, all while the beeping gets faster and louder until it’s practically screaming in her ear.

Suddenly, out of seemingly nowhere, someone is at her side whispering in her ear. “Hey Marinette, welcome back honey. You’re in a hospital and you have a tube down your throat to help you breathe. You’re ok, I just need you to relax for me.” She tries to listen to the voice, it’s soothing and somewhat familiar, but her body is still rejecting the intrusion. 

“I know it’s uncomfortable, sweetheart. This is a good thing, I promise. Just relax, and try to keep breathing like normal. Inhale, exhale.” She does. 

“That’s it honey. You’re doing amazing. Now, we’re gonna go ahead and take the tube out now, just open your mouth, say AAAAAH, nice and easy, and … done! There we go.”

She’s still feels like she needs to cough, and her throat is beyond sore, but it’s easier to breathe now. 

Which is when she registers the pain in her side, in her chest.

Her face scrunches as she shifts and tries to sit up, wincing as it shoots more pain through her body, and the voice who she now realizes belongs to a nurse floats back to her.

“Marinette, sweetie, don’t try to sit up on your own. Let me grab a couple of pillows to help prop you up.” She does so and explains as she props Marinette up on the pillows so she’s in a position in between lying down and sitting up. Reclined enough to be comfortable, but sitting up enough to show that she’s awake.

“You have a tube in your chest right now. I know it hurts, we can give you some more pain medicine for it in just a minute, but first I have to take your vitals. You’ve had a very busy night, you’ve given all of us quite a few scares.”

She relaxes as much as she can with the pain still shooting through her. “Why? What are chest tubes for?”

The nurse, who’s name tag says _Claire_, stills a little at the question. “I’m going to take your vitals really quick, and then I’m going to go grab the doctor and your parents to let them know you’re awake. The doctor will be able to explain more about what's been going on, and I know your parents have been in the waiting room all night.”

She’s confused. “All night?” Exactly how long has she been here? Why is she here? What’s going on?

Claire’s eyes are soft when she looks up after finishing documenting her vitals. She nods at Marinette solemnly. “They’ve been here all night. I’ll be right back, honey. If you need anything, anything at all, just press that red button on the remote on your left and it’ll notify the nurses station, and they’ll send someone right to you.”

*****

Tikki comes back to herself and notices that the miracle box is still open.

She sees the empty slots where the peacock and butterfly miraculous go, understands the meaning of it, and thinks that if she were human, if she were anything less than what she is, (a god, the embodiment of creation, of _life_) it would have broken her.

The hurt still pangs deep in her chest.

She closes the box and mutters an incantation that will make it seem unassuming to any eye except the Guardian’s, in this case, it takes the form of a sewing machine, and it hits her.

Marinette is the Guardian. The consequences of the imbalance would have lifted as soon as the guardianship was passed. _Marinette is the guardian_, and she is alone in the hospital without even knowing what’s happening. 

_Marinette is alone._

She doesn’t think she’s ever flown faster in her life.

*****

Adrien wakes up with his alarm, which strikes him as odd, because Plagg is usually harassing him for cheese hours before, but he isn’t going to protest a little extra sleep.

He rolls over to turn his alarm off, and runs his hand through his hair as he looks to the ceiling.

He realizes that his ring hasn’t snagged his hair like it usually does, and when he looks at his hand, he sees it’s because it isn’t there.

_His miraculous is gone._

He bolts out of bed, frantic, calling for Plagg, upending his pillows and sheets, looking under his bed, under his tables, chairs, hoping desperately that it fell off, that he’s going to find it any second now.

He doesn’t.

Plagg doesn’t show up when he calls for him, and the ring isn’t anywhere in his room.

He’s confused, and angry.

The Gorilla drops him off at school, and he walks right through the building and out the back. He’s not going to school when his miraculous is missing. He’s going to go see the guardian, who better have a decent answer for him.

He is Chat Noir. The miraculous of destruction belongs to him, no one else. 

He makes it to the tiny shop in good time, and doesn’t think twice before barging in.

He’s angry, and he is owed some answers. If the guardian needed his miraculous for something, he should’ve told him.

He steps into the shop, and it’s eerily quiet, there’s no music playing, no scent of freshly made tea, and it has the hairs on his neck standing on end.

He steps further into the shop and sees the old man lying on the floor, surrounded by the wreckage of ridiculously overgrown plants, and he has no idea what’s going on.

“Master Fu! Master Fu! What happened?”

He goes over and shakes him, frantic now, did someone rob him? How did they get his miraculous?

The old man sits up, and when he sees Adrien, he starts crying. Adrien helps him stand up, still confused.

“Master! What happened? Where is my miraculous? What did you do?”

Fu shakes his head and taps his throat, _still crying_, and why is this old man so pathetic? How did _he_ end up with power over someone like Adrien?

Well, Adrien realizes. He doesn’t have power over him anymore.

The old man has nothing on him, and from the looks of his shop, he doesn’t have anything over anyone else either.

Master Fu sees what’s coming, he sees the shift in Adrien’s expression, the shadow that passes over his eyes, but without the power of the miraculous on his side, he’s too slow and old to react.

Adrien shoves him, hard, and he trips over the mess of plants and vines and leaves on his floor.

Adrien smiles as he watches the man fall. Smiles as he cries out in pain, breaking a bone, maybe a few, considering his age. He watches him writhe in pain on the floor, struggle and fail to get up, and he turns on his heel and walks right back out of the shop.

He’ll find out what happened on his own.

He stops in the middle of the street on his way back to school when he realizes … maybe he doesn’t have to find out on his own. There’s already someone out there looking for the black cat miraculous.

An eerie grin stretches across his face as he realizes, all he has to do is get himself akumatized. All he has to do is double cross Hawkmoth at the last minute to get his miraculous back, his lady will realize how much she needs him, and everything will be _purrfect_.

Now, all he has to do is make sure his akuma form looks exactly like he does as Chat Noir. He’s almost positive he and Hawkmoth can come to some sort of agreement, in that regard.

*****

Tikki flies to the room Marinette is in, and hovers outside the window until she sees the nurse leave.

She flies in immediately as soon as the door closes behind her, and she’s frantic as she flies to Marinette, who isn’t moving, and oh no, what if it didn’t work, what if something went wrong, what has she _done?_

Marinette turns to her, eyes crinkling in confusion and a little bit of fear as she asks, “Tikki. What’s going on?”

Tikki almost sobs in relief at the sight of Marinette’s eyes, so blue and open and _alive_, and she flies up to rest on her forehead.

“Oh, Marinette. I thought I’d lost you. A lot has happened tonight, too much to go into right now, but I promise it’ll all make sense soon. How are you feeling?”

“I’m ok. My chest hurts and the nurse didn’t tell me what this tube is for, but I’m ok.”

Tikki seems to radiate warmth from her spot on Marinette’s forehead. “Good. I’m glad you’re feeling better. Human doctors are so particular, we’ll have to see what they can do about that tube.”

There’s a knock on the door and Tikki darts under the pillow as Marinette says, “Come in!”

Her parents all but barge into the room, her mother is trembling, one hand over her mouth, the other reaching out to Marinette but not quite touching her, almost like she’s afraid to, and her dad falls to his knees beside her bed, weeping.

She still doesn’t really get what’s going on, and her face twists in confusion as she reaches out to her parents. “Maman. Papa. I’m fine. What’s going on?”

Her mother steps closer to the bed, sees the tube that’s still in Marinette’s right side, and blanches. Her voice is shaky as she turns to the doctor, and it’s obvious she’s trying to hold back tears as she asks, “Surely that’s not necessary anymore? The nurse said her vitals were good, and she’s breathing on her own. She doesn’t still need that, does she?”

The doctors mouth tightens in sympathy. “I understand how it looks, but although Marinette’s vitals are good, and it’s an extremely positive sign that she woke up rejecting the tube and able to breathe on her own, we do need to keep her here for observation for at least 8 hours, with a check up every hour on the hour. We might be able to take the tube out in a couple of hours if no more liquid has built up in her lungs, but for now it’s safer to keep it in. We will of course, be administering pain meds accordingly in the meantime.”

“Liquid in my lungs? What happened?”

Tom rests his giant hand on Marinette’s, engulfing it, and she turns to him, still confused. “Papa. Please tell me what’s going on.”

His face crumples and he starts weeping again as he finally tells her the truth. What everyone has been dancing around since she woke up. “You were drowning. You kept drowning and dying and drowning and dying and no one knew what was going on, or _why_, the akuma was defeated, but then Ladybug disappeared and you were still _drowning_ and you kept - you just - you just kept dying!” He’s sobbing even harder as the doctor hands him a box of tissues, and he pauses to blow his nose.

“You were experiencing what we in the medical world call ‘dry-drowning.’ Your body wasn’t submerged, but it was reacting as if it were. Your lungs kept filling with fluid and you were essentially, drowning. Your heart stopped a couple of times last night, so you did experience cardiac death, but our code team was able to bring you back every time. You’re a very strong young lady, Marinette. None of us will be forgetting that anytime soon.”

There’s a tinge to the doctors voice as he calls her strong, an undercurrent of knowing, of _seeing_, and her eyes widen as the doctor reaches up to rub his ear in a way that looks completely innocent.

She looks frantically from him to the nurse, whose eyes are watering as she nods and does the same motion the doctor did. 

Her parents are none the wiser, still weeping in relief at Marinette’s bedside, and she swallows heavily. 

“Thank you. I really -” Her voice cracks with emotion as she realizes just what these doctors have done for her. “I really appreciate that. I’m feeling kind of tired. Can I have some of that pain medicine now? And maybe a nap?”

Her parents crying peters out after she takes the pain meds, and she’s in a comfortable floaty haze as they leave with the doctor to go and sign paperwork and talk about what’s going to be happening for the next 8 hours, and what’ll happen after that.

The nurse is left alone with her after they leave, and as she tucks a warmed blanket around Marinette, she ducks to whisper, “Don’t worry, Ladybug. We’ll keep your identity a secret. None of us have been akumatized, and we all go to a therapist regularly to help us regulate our emotions enough to make sure we never will be. Your secret is safe with us. You’ve also got doctor - patient confidentiality. But we meant what we said. We won’t forget what you’ve done for us, and this city.”

She stands up and steps away from Marinette, under the pretense of checking the heart monitor as she says, louder, “I’ll go ahead and leave you to it. If you need anything, even if you just want another warmed blanket, just press the red button on the remote.”

Marinette’s eyes are watering as Claire dims the light and leaves, closing the door behind her.

Tikki flies out from under the pillow, hands covering her mouth in shock.

“Oh, Tikki. Did you hear that? They found out my identity but I’m not in any danger, and they were so kind to me, they didn’t have to do that.” She’s crying now, tears streaming down her face as she talks. “They didn’t have to do any of that.” She cries as Tikki just floats there, almost glowing with pride.

_This_ is humanity. This is the very best of it.

“Oh Marinette, don’t ever say that. You deserve this kindness and so much more. You deserve the world. Now. I do have some things to tell you that I wish could wait but unfortunately can't.”

“Things? Like why I’m here in the first place?”

Tikki’s expression goes hard as she remembers what she did. What she _had_ to do.

“Yes. First things first. You, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, are the new guardian of the miraculous.”

Marinette’s face goes pale with shock. She holds one finger out to Tikki as she pushes the red button on the remote.

Tikki hovers out of sight as Claire comes back in.

“Can I have some ice water please?”

Claire brings it to her.

She drinks it all immediately, wincing at the soreness in her throat.

“Okay. So, I’m the guardian. I thought I had only been here for a night? How the hell did I miss so much?”

Tikki winces as she regales Marinette with the story of what happened, keeping in mind to pause and wait when Marinette gets too angry, so her heart can calm down. Considering how many times her heart stopped last night, they have it on an extra sensitive monitor, and someone rushes in anytime she gets too excited.

“Ok. Ok. O. K. That is entirely too much for me to process right now. Especially after I spent the entire night apparently _dying_. I’m going to take a nap. We will continue this discussion when I wake up.”

Tikki can’t help the grin that spreads across her face at Marinette’s declaration. “Of course. I know you’re probably exhausted. I’ll give you a little creation boost while you sleep.”

“Is that why you were so warm on my head earlier? Not gonna lie, that was a little weird.”

“I was just trying to give you an extra boost!” Tikki gasps, falsely indignant. “To help you heal!”

Marinette can’t help the snort that comes out of her, but she regrets it immediately. “Ouch - Tikki. Stop being so hilarious. It hurts to laugh.”

Tikki’s expression sobers, and she lowers herself onto Marinette’s head again. “Sleep, Marinette. I’ll give you as much of a boost as possible. Once they take the tube out I can heal you completely, but not a minute before then, or we might have some uncomfortable explanations on our hands.”

“That’s fine Tikki. Thank you.” She succumbs to the haziness of the pain medicine, and the last thing she feels is Tikki giving her a kiss on the forehead.

Tikki glows as she lets her power bleed into Marinette from where she’s resting on the girls forehead. She works hard to contain it, to funnel it into Marinette and make sure it’s not radiating around her, and does her best not to think about how it’s not fine. Nothing about this is fine. Marinette’s chest and ribs are bruised with the force of the CPR performed multiple times last night. Her lungs are battered from the inside out. Her throat is raw. _Nothing about this is fine._

But it will be.

Marinette is the guardian now. Everything is about to change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also idk if anyone caught it but the nurse Claire is supposed to be Claire Temple from the marvel universe ... I love her so much


	3. Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wang Fu hadn’t realized, hadn’t stopped to think for even a moment about the power of the miraculous. The power _behind_ it. The power of destruction. A cataclysm. What it could do to a person, to their soul.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 3! Sorry it took so long, I was in Japan for the holidays and we landed on the first but I'm still kind of jet lagged so it was hard to get into a salty mindset long enough to actually write. Hope you all had happy holidays!

Marinette sits at her desk with the miracle box next to her. If her parents come in, it’ll look to them like she’s just working on another design project, because to everyone’s eyes but her own, the miracle box looks like a sewing machine. It’s ingenious, and Tikki promised to explain more about the magic behind it once they’ve gotten her more settled as the guardian.

First, the old tongue.

She grabs one of her many empty notebooks, ready to take notes, as one does when learning a new language, but Tikki tells her she doesn’t need it.

She’s confused at first, but then soon finds that when Tikki speaks in the old tongue, she can _understand_ it. She _knows_ what Tikki is saying, and is able to respond in kind if she focuses.

The old tongue feels like a rumble going through her with a tinge of magic and something timeless, something unknowable, and as she speaks it she realizes that it sounds and feels unlike any language she’s ever heard or spoken in her entire life.

Tikki smiles at Marinette’s excitement after she realizes she is able to respond in kind (and it’s so telling of what kind of person Marinette is that her first instinct was to respond back in the old tongue. Her first instinct was to try to respond to Tikki in kind, in Tikki’s native language, and she succeeded on her first try. The knowledge is intrinsic, yes, but it has taken many guardians at least 3 tries to get it right, to focus completely. It brings tears to her eyes if she thinks of it too long) and explains. “The old tongue is known by all the Kwami, and it is passed onto the guardian so they are able to communicate and connect with us. It’s intrinsic, the knowledge just appears, and disappears once guardianship is passed.”

“That’s amazing! It’s so cool that I could understand you, does it work with other languages? You guys probably know all of them already, but would I be able to know them too? Is there a way for me to have that knowledge? It would be so great to be able to talk with everyone in their native language as Ladybug, I think that’s something that’s really important to make people feel more comfortable and safe.”

Tikki sits on the desk silently as Marinette continues. The girl is rambling now, scribbling in her notebook all the languages she’s heard spoken around Paris, which ones are more common, and in what parts of the city, etc. 

And the thing is, Tikki knows how good Marinette is. She created her _soul_. But having the evidence here in front of her is almost too much. 

Here is Marinette, a physically small 15 year old girl, fresh out of the hospital after dying no less than 5 times in one night, and her first thought is of how she can help _others_. How she can do better. Be better. She is always striving for greatness, and she’s never satisfied, which grates on her because the world is so cruel and she is so _kind_.

She wouldn’t have had to be if Chat had been a true destruction soul. It would have never devolved into this. The chaos of destruction would have tempered the chaos of creation and all of this would _never_ have happened. 

The imbalance has taken a toll on Marinette’s body, in ways she never even realized or thought to disclose because she’s so used to handling everything herself, of holding the weight of the world on her shoulders, which was only exacerbated by Chat _not being a true soul of destruction_.

She doesn’t think she’ll ever get over this. She won’t forget that Wayzz didn’t know. That even _Plagg_ didn’t know. That he couldn’t tell, which means that Fu had done something to either Adrien or the miraculous in order for Plagg not to be able to tell that Adrien was not a true destruction soul.

The edict has been passed and Marinette is alive and well, and it should be enough but Tikki is as old as time and life itself and she is _still angry_. She is still angry. She has lived thousands of years. One day is not enough time for her anger to dissipate. It may not for hundreds of years. The last time she was even close to being this furious, the humans called it the Dark Ages.

Marinette wouldn’t want her to be this angry on her behalf.

But no one else is. No one else is at Marinette’s back. Not the old master. Not her old partner. Not her parents, not her friends at school, because they can’t know. She is, effectively, alone.

She is under no delusions that interaction with Kwami can substitute for human contact. Tikki is too small to brush her hair, her arms are not big enough to envelop Marinette in a hug when she desperately needs it. She tries her best, and Marinette knows it and would never, _ever,_ fault her for it, but sometimes it isn’t enough.

So the least she can do is be angry for her. To remind her that it’s ok to not be ok. It’s ok to be upset, angry even, about how she’s been treated. It’s ok to have negative feelings, it doesn’t make her less than. The only thing it does is makes her _human_.

Hawkmoth is a sick, cruel man. 

*****

She doesn’t go to school for the next week, the doctors were adamant about her being on bedrest, nothing strenuous, nothing stressful, and her parents agreed immediately.

She huffs a sigh as her dad puts her down on her bed. “Papa. How many times do I have to tell you. It’s been 3 days! I can walk up the stairs by myself!”

He ruffles her hair with one huge hand and grins. “I know, I know. It’s just been so long since I got to carry you like this! Let your old papa reminisce a little, won't you?”

She rolls her eyes, trying hard to at least keep looking annoyed in the face of her father’s sunshiney grin, but he smiles wider at her, and she loses. She can’t help but smile back at him.

“Fine. Fine! But only for this week! I have two perfectly functioning legs and I plan on using them as soon as possible!”

“Of course, of course.” He kisses her on the forehead, and calls out an “I love you!” as he walks back down the stairs.

“I love you too!” She hollers back as his footsteps fade away.

Tikki flies up into her line of sight and winces, “I’m sorry Marinette. I guess I healed you too well too fast, huh.”

“It’s not your fault Tikki, it’s just a little frustrating being cooped up like this. I know everyone’s worried about me, but I’m fine! I feel fine.”

Tikki nods in agreement. “I know. But it’s ok if you aren’t. I wish you had more time, I wish I could give you more time, but a new Chat Noir has to be chosen as soon as possible. The imbalance has already taken a toll on your body, the human body can only handle so much.” Her face hardens as she remembers all the headaches and bruises Marinette brushed off. “I’m sorry I didn’t notice sooner. There’s no excuse.”

Marinette opens her mouth to respond but a rapid knocking on her door interrupts her, and Tikki rushes to hide herself before it opens abruptly, and Alya all but stumbles in.

“Mari! Girl! Oh man. Oh my god we’ve been so worried. You weren’t in school and they obviously couldn’t tell us what happened, and your parents wouldn’t tell us much because they didn’t want us to worry so as soon as they said you might be up for visitors I ran up here! Are you? Up for visitors? Because if not I can leave. I can leave like. Right now. Just say the word.”

She can’t help but grin at Alya’s word vomit. It’s something she would do, and it’s endearing to see that she’s rubbed off on Alya as much as Alya has rubbed off on her. 

“Of course you don’t have to leave, Alya. I’m fine! The doctors put me on bed rest for the week, which is a little overkill if you ask me, but I’m fine.”

Alya’s face crumples, and it looks like she’s trying not to cry. She comes up and sits next to Marinette on her bed. She grabs a hold of both of her hands and looks right into her eyes. “Mari. Your parents told me - they told me what happened. You don’t have to pretend to be ok to make me feel better, to make us feel better. You’re allowed to feel however you feel and you don’t need to pretend to not be feeling it for our sake.”

Marinette blinks at her in shock. “Alya, I - I’m not … I really _am_ fine. Nothing hurts that much anymore, and I’m only on bedrest to make sure I’m forced to give my heart a rest. I am frustrated, being cooped up like this when I feel perfectly fine, but that’s it, really. I’m not lying or faking or pretending or anything. I swear. I don’t even remember most of it. Any of it, really. I just remember I had a bad cough that didn’t go away, and then I woke up in the hospital. But I’m fine.”

Marinette squeezes Alya’s hands in hers and says, “You’re such a great friend. The best. I love you, girl.” Alya huffs out a laugh at the familiar term of endearment, and lets go of Marinette’s hands to wipe the tears off her face.

“No girl, I love _you_.”

“No no no! I love you the most! You have to let me win this one, Alya!” She throws herself back onto her bed and raises her hand to her forehead dramatically. “I’ve been _injured!_ I’m on _bedrest_, Alya! You _must_ let me win!”

Alya rolls her eyes and sits cross legged on the bed across from Marinette. “Fine. Just this once! And only because you’re on bed rest!”

Marinette smiles smugly at her as she sits up, and Alya immediately shoves her back into her pillow. 

“Alya! I’m _injured!_”

“Oh, whatever. Now sit up so we can do each other’s nails and talk about what’s been going on this week. You’ll never believe how Adrien has been acting.”

Marinette goes cold, and she uses the excuse of going to get the nail supplies to take the time to collect herself.

Tikki phases into the bag of nail supplies when Alya looks away, probably busy texting the class that Marinette is fine.

“Marinette. He can’t get you here. He doesn’t know who you are. He made his bed and now he’s lying in it, and it is not your fault. If you want to blame anyone, blame me. If he wants to blame anyone, he can blame me.” Her face is solemn as she looks into Marinette’s eyes and uses the old tongue, to remind her who she’s speaking to, to remind her _what Tikki is. **“It was my decision.”**_

Marinette nods shakily, and she closes her eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath. “I know. I know. Thank you. You’re right. It’s just - still a bit of a shock. Ok, a big shock. Knowing that Chat is … _was_ him. It’s just. It makes me kind of sick, to be honest. Now I know what kind of person he really is. I’ve seen his true face. The person he is when his actions don’t have consequences. I hate it. I _hate_ it.”

“Marinette! Do you need help grabbing the stuff? You’re still technically on bed rest! Girl! Let me grab those!” Alya is suddenly next to her, all but snatching the bag of supplies out of her hands, and notices that Marinette’s complexion is kind of pale, her eyes a little distant. 

“Mari? Do you need to sit down? Do you need me to get your parents?”

She blinks back at her, and smiles sheepishly. “No, but you’re right, the bag was a little much for me to be carrying at this point, even though I thought I felt fine. I think I just need to sit down for a little bit. Thank you.”

They spend the rest of the night doing each other’s nails and makeup and gossiping, and Alya notices Marinette’s attempts at steering the conversation away from Adrien, and takes the hint. Maybe the life and death experience has made her realize something she’s not ready to share, and she needs to move on. She’s not pushing it. Not this soon, maybe not ever unless Marinette is truly willing to talk about it.

All she can do is be here to support Marinette, to be there for her.

*****

Wang Fu has made countless mistakes in his life. The most recent of which, which is also the last mistake he’ll ever make, was pissing off the Kwami of Creation. He will die soon, but Tikki made sure to give him enough time to dwell on his mistakes, which is exactly what he’s doing.

Now that he’s forced to think about it, he has to admit, at least to himself, that he doesn’t really know what he was thinking. He can’t recall why he made the decisions he did. What prompted him. What drove him.

He knew Adrien wasn’t a true destruction soul. He knew. He even performed a spell on Adrien that he found in the grimoire before he gave him the miraculous.

It was a spell to unleash the spirit of destruction from whomever it was cast upon. It was used on true destruction souls to help solidify their bond with Plagg, to help them come into their full potential sooner in times of dire need. 

He hadn’t known it was only to be used on true destruction souls. He didn’t know what it would do to a soul that wasn’t one of true destruction. He hadn’t realized, hadn’t stopped to think for even a moment about the power of the miraculous. The power _behind_ it. The power of destruction. A cataclysm. What it could do to a person, to their soul. 

He didn’t realize it until now, lying on the floor of his shop, body bruised and broken at the hands of the boy he once trusted with the power of destruction. He saw the look in Adrien’s eyes. He knew something wasn’t right. 

He didn’t realize it until it was too late. Too late for him, at least.

Before he passes out from the pain he has one fleeting thought. He’s grateful. He’s grateful that Tikki saw what was happening, saw what he couldn’t, what he _wouldn’t_. Tikki took the actions needed. He will die, but Marinette is alive. She will be a good guardian. The greatest.

He has to die for her to live, to thrive. He has made too many mistakes, and although he won’t make any more, he would never have acknowledged them if it weren’t for this. He was too selfish, too stubborn, and Tikki knew that. This is the only way.

He’s just sorry it took this long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! You can find me on tumblr [here](https://miraculousbelladonna.tumblr.com/)


	4. UPDATE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not a new chapter, sorry! I’m going to be putting the edict on hiatus/on hold for now.

So I won’t be able to post part 4 anytime soon. I do have a plan for it. I know what I want to do with it and where I want it to go but I honestly don’t think I’ll be able to write it anytime soon bc i don’t have the time or energy for a multi chapter fic right now.

My semester is pretty busy and I have a lot of shit going on health wise. (I’m chronically ill with an incurable illness and it is currently flaring like hell! And there’s nothing to do but wait it out and live through the pain) the only thing I can come up with are short little ficlet type things. So yes, there will be a part 4 of the edict eventually. I don’t know when. I have a lot of the aforementioned ficlets that I like that I might end up posting but ... yea that’s how the beginning of my year has been going! Not great but it can only go up from here!!! Hopefully. Anyways. I hope 2020 has been treating you all better than it’s been treating me!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to send me prompts and stuff on [tumblr](https://miraculousbelladonna.tumblr.com/). Be it salt or angst or whatever. I’ll do my best to answer them. I still want and need to write even though I’m putting The Edict on hiatus.


End file.
